In 1824, a coalition of parties and electoral voters came together to defeat Andrew Jackson's first attempt at the presidency. John Quincy Addams was the one elected that year, but a large number of electors voted for others than either Jackson or Adams--some of this OCCURRED BECAUSE STATES SPLIT THEIR VOTES 2 or 3 WAYS at that time: William H. Crawford (41) & Henry Clay (37).
In 1872, a lot of electors for Horace Greeley were forced to think well-out of the box. For the first time in history a major candidate for president died between election day and the day when the Electoral College voted. (Three votes that were still made for deceased Horace Greeley were not counted.) B. Gratz Brown recieve 18 of Greeley's votes; Thomas A. Hendricks took 42. Charles J. Jenkins got 2 votes, and David Davis received one vote.
The 1880 election saw an extremely close popular vote between candidates of the two major parties (just over half a million votes seperated James Garfield and his opponent, Winfield Hancock. Hancock won California; however, one Elector cast a vote for Garfield.
In 1888, the Democrat Grover Cleveland won the popular vote but lost the election. None of the those in the electoral college took the opportunity to think and vote outside of the box that year.
In 1892, the electors of the Electoral College for the Presidency of the United States finally returned to their original roots. Eight of them thoughtfully voted for others than won the highest number of votes in their state.
- Welcome: Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming become states during this election cycle
- Grover Cleveland first (and only) President elected to a 2nd, non-consecutive term
- Harrison won Oregon; however one Elector cast a vote for Weaver
- Cleveland won California; however one Elector cast a vote for Harrison
- Harrison won Ohio; however one Elector cast a vote for Cleveland
- Michigan Electors split their vote: 9 for Harrison, 5 for Cleveland; Harrison had won popular vote
- North Dakota Electors split their vote: 1 each for Cleveland, Harrison and Weaver; Weaver had won the popular vote
- Issues of the Day: Farming Issues, Homestead Steel Strike
In short, no favorite sons were voted for in 1892, but numerous favorite neighbor (favorite opposition candidate) were chosen by at least 8 electors. In 1896, one California elector voted for William Jennings Bryan although McKinley one California.
In 1912, once again, California electors were thinking outside the box in their roles in the Electoral College. Theodore Roosevelt won California; however, two Electors cast votes for Woodrow Wilson. (By the way, Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs received about 900,000 votes, but no Electoral Votes. That has been too often the American Way.)
In 1916, one elector in the Electoral College from West Virginia voted for Wilson although the rest of the delegates voted for Charles Hughes, the Republican candidate for president. It would not be until 1948 when again electors in the Electoral College once again began to choose for themselves again. It was in that year that a Tennessee elector voted for Strom Thurmond as a favorite son Southern Dixiecrat in that famed election of Harry S. Truman and Thomas E. Dewey.
In 1960, "The electoral vote was the closest in any presidential election since 1916. In the popular vote, Kennedy's margin of victory was among the closest ever in American history. The 1960 election also remains a source of debate among some historians as to whether vote theft in selected states aided Kennedy's victory." Virginian Senator Harry F. Byrd received 15 electoral votes from 14 Southern states and one Oklahoma elector. (Nixon won Oklahoma; however one Elector cast a vote for Byrd. Alabama Electors split their vote: 6 for Byrd, 5 for Kennedy; Kennedy had won popular vote.)
"The election also featured a strong third party effort by former Alabama Governor George Wallace. Because Wallace's campaign promoted segregation, he proved to be a formidable candidate in the South; no third-party candidate has won an entire state's electoral votes since." Again, in 1968, although Nixon won North Carolina, one Elector cast a vote for Wallace.
Although no electors stood up to support him, businessman Ross Perot won record numbers of votes as an outsider in both the 1992 and 1996 elections. That is, independent candidate H. Ross Perot received 19,741,065 votes in 1992 , most ever for a 3rd party candidate, but no Electoral Votes. In 1996, the Electoral College again ignored votes of many citizens. (That year, the Reform Party candidate H. Ross Perot received 7,866,284 votes, but once again no Electoral Votes.)
So, as the new 3rd Millenium dawned, the Electoral College was seen more and more as archaic but the Democratic and GOP bigwigs had found it vested tehir parties with full control of the executive branch. In 2000, the following occurred and Americans began asking for a change in the status quo: The Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received 2,882,728 votes, but no Electoral Votes. Al Gore won D.C.; however one Elector did not cast a vote. George W. Bush was declared the victor in December of the close election by the USA Supreme Court. It was one of only 4 elections, and first in over 100 years (1824, 1876, 1888) where the popular vote winner lost the election.
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